[037] MTSU Convocation Aug. 26 features author Tori McClure

MURFREESBORO — “A Pearl in the
Storm” author Tori McClure — a woman renowned for exploring new territory —
will help welcome students to their new lives as MTSU scholars at the annual
University Convocation inside Murphy Center on Sunday, Aug. 26.

The
public is welcome to the free 2 p.m. event in Hale Arena, which helps mark the
beginning of the 2012-13 academic year at MTSU, the university’s 101st year of
educating Tennessee’s best.

Convocation
formally welcomes new students into the MTSU learning community. Faculty
members march in their regalia as the MTSU Band of Blue performs, and the
traditions and rituals of the university are explained to the newest members of
the MTSU family.

McClure’s
national bestseller, which is MTSU’s 2012 Summer Reading Selection, is a memoir
of her three-month solo trip in a rowboat across the
Atlantic Ocean. She was the first woman to accomplish such a feat, which she
risked as part of a personal challenge to step away from her regimented life.

“This book describes that undertaking and so much
more,” said
Dr. Laurie Witherow of the University College, who coordinates the annual
reading project.

“The official website for the book describes it this way: ‘“A Pearl in the Storm” is about
failure and recovery. It is about storms that twist our lives and shatter our
dreams. It is about the pearls: the guides, the guardians and the mentors who
lift us up after we fall.’”

McClure now serves as vice president for external
relations, enrollment management and student affairs at Spalding University in
Louisville, Ky. In
addition to her solo Atlantic adventure, she is the first woman to ski overland
to the South Pole.

The
author earned her Bachelor of Arts from Smith College and also boasts a
master's in divinity from Harvard University, a law degree from the University
of Louisville School of Law and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Spalding
University. She also has worked as a chaplain at Boston City Hospital and for
Muhammad Ali at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville.

MTSU’s Summer Reading Program, created in
2002, aims to provide a unifying experience for entering freshmen. They’re
expected to read the book before fall classes start Aug. 25, and all University
1010 classes will discuss it. Faculty also are incorporating the book into
their fall lesson plans.

First-year
students are expected to attend Convocation; their families and members of the
MTSU and surrounding communities are welcome, too.

Immediately
after Convocation, the public also is invited to the annual President’s Picnic
in Walnut Grove in the center of campus between the Cope Administration
Building and Peck Hall. The picnic features traditional cookout foods as well
as fun and fellowship to celebrate the new academic year.

Both
events are part of MTSU’s annual “Week of Welcome” celebration. For a complete
“Week of Welcome” schedule, visit www.mtsu.edu/nsfp/welcome_nsfp.php
or call 615-898-2454 for more information.

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